Tonya Carey
By Tonya Carey, Recruitment Specialist
Tonya Carey has been with Oregon Reproductive Medicine since 2015. She connects women from all around the country with our egg donor program.
So, maybe you’ve heard about egg donation from a friend, on the radio, social media, or you know someone who has created their family from the generosity of an egg donor. You’ve thought, that sounds interesting! Is it right for me? What does the process entail? Am I compensated? I’ll give you a hint before we start: it’s less scary and a lot more gratifying than you’d think! During the process, you will learn so much about yourself all while helping a loving family grow and being compensated for your time.
Reasons Why ORM’S Egg Donor Program is Different
- ORM has an in-house genetics team, which means you learn a ton about your own genetics. While most programs and agencies use the same criteria to screen their donors, ORM goes above and beyond. We utilize the expertise of our in-house Genetics Team to review each applicant’s personal and family medical history and to determine inheritance risk factors. This information is invaluable for our patients and is one of the many reasons a patient may decide to use an ORM Donor above other options. All of our screening is done prior to making a donor available for a match with a family, which means they are ready to donate once chosen. This decreases the risk of a canceled cycle. As a bonus, donors also get the results of the testing and genetic consultation for your personal use.
- You can be from anywhere in the US! We have donors from all across the US, so there is no need to be an Oregon local. We cover travel expenses for the donor and a companion for those who live outside our local area.
- You can be on birth control including IUDs. Egg donors need to have regular monthly periods when not on birth control. The only two forms of birth control a donor could not be on are Depo Provera and Implanon/Nexplanon. IUDs are an acceptable and popular form of birth control for our donors.
ORM Donor Application Process
- To get the process started, potential ORM Donors fill out a preliminary questionnaire online that asks for basic information along with simple health and lifestyle questions. This helps us get an idea of who would be a good candidate to move forward in the process.
- Then, applicants will meet with our Recruitment Specialist (me!) to discuss the program in detail and to be scheduled for fertility testing.
- Donor applicants will next be asked to fill out a detailed health history form with questions regarding both personal and family health. This will be followed by a phone consult with one of our Genetics Counselors to discuss the applicant’s personal and family medical history.
- Finally, the potential donor will complete a one-day visit to our clinic which includes a full teaching session with our amazing Donor Intake Specialist, a physical examination, a blood test for general health, sexually transmitted diseases and genetic disorders, a psychology consultation, and a photo session. We ask donors to polish their donor profile at this time so we can present their information to intended parents for matching.
Our panel of physicians and medical professionals review all of the information collected along the way to determine if the egg donor applicant meets our program guidelines. Once accepted, the new egg donor’s anonymous profile is activated into our secure database for individuals and couples to review.
We try our best to make the egg donor application and screening process exciting and informative. Because there is a great deal of information that needs to be collected and reviewed, the process can take several weeks before you are officially accepted into the program. However, during that time you are working with our team and learning a great deal about yourself, your family and your genetics as well. Once approved and placed into the donor database, you could be chosen right away, or it may take some time to get matched. This is simply dependent upon what our patients are looking for, though the majority of our donor candidates are matched within three months. Curious about what happens after an egg donor is matched with an intended parent? Read more here.
Learn more about becoming an ORM Donor here. If you have any questions regarding the ORM egg donor program or would like more information, please contact us at [email protected].